Nine out of ten children living in state care in Romania have at
least one parent alive, but poverty, social stigma and lack of
support keep them separated from their families. Evidence shows
that institutional care damages children's development irreversibly
and dramatically reduces their opportunities in life; in Romania
66% of children in institutions do not attend mainstream schools
and 88% do not go to university.

Since 2002 we have been working, in partnership with Hope and
Homes for Children (HHC), to support the Romanian government in
the wholesale reform of their child care system, including the
closure of all institutions by 2020.

Our approach

The alternative to institutions is a model which champions
prevention - supporting families to stay together - and strong
family and community-based care. For children already living in
institutions, we adopt three strategies:

REUNITING CHILDREN WITH THEIR ORIGINAL
FAMILIES We try wherever possible to reunite children
with their families, ensuring care-givers have the support they
need to create safe, secure homes.

FOSTER/ADOPTION FAMILIES If birth families
are unable to care for their children, we work to place children
with a foster or adoption family.

SMALL-GROUP HOMES When all other avenues
have been exhausted, we support children to live in
small-group homes, where carers act as foster parents.

This alternative model of care is far better for children and
society and more cost-efficient in the long term.

This year

HHC have worked directly with children and carers to prevent
institutionalisation and to promote family-style care. Ark has
also focused on influencing national and international policy so
that family based care is prioritised in Romania in the years
ahead.

KEEPING CHILDREN OUT OF INSTITUTIONS AND EXPANDING
FAMILY-BASED CARE

In 2012, in partnership with county child protection teams, we
helped 2,035 children remain with their families and avoid
entering state care by offering practical and psychological
assistance to families, often at a time of temporary crisis.
HHC is now working with prevention services in seven counties out
of 47, three more than planned nationally for this year.

We removed 184 children from harmful, large-scale institutions
and closed the last remaining institution in Maramures
county. Maramures is the first county in Romania to have documented
how it closed all institutions, providing a blue-print for other
counties to follow.

We also taught 424 staff (one out of four in our target
counties) how to communicate better with children, manage
challenging behaviour, stop abuse, and prepare children for life
outside an institution. The quality of care given to children - as
measured across a wide range of practical and professional
skills - improved by 20% on average after our training. These
newly-trained carers will be at the forefront of reform as it
spreads nationally.

SECURING NATIONAL SUPPORT FOR CHANGE

In April 2012 we produced Romania's first comprehensive national
audit of child care services, covering all remaining institutions,
the children living in them, the support services in place and
identifying gaps. We found that lack of funds for alternative care
meant 37 out of 45 child protection services surveyed had no plans
to shut remaining institutions. The audit is providing the hard
facts and evidence needed by the Romanian government to draw up a
detailed national closure plan by 2015.

LEVERAGING FUNDS FOR REFORM

We are working to ensure that existing European Union funding
can be directed towards Romania's child care reform. In early June,
we hosted a series of high-level events on
deinstitutionalisation at the European Parliament in Brussels;
nearly two-thirds of attendees "agreed completely" with our call
for the EU to work with member states to close institutions. The
European Parliament has since ratified the use by member states of
EU cohesion policy funding to finance the transition to family
style child care.

Looking ahead

HHC has been selected as one of only a handful of
non-governmental organisations to sit on the national forum
advising how Romania should use EU money. We will be well-placed to
influence the Government's decisions about child care reform once
the 2014 - 2020 EU budget is agreed.

Ark will continue to support family-style care. We will close
two further institutions and train 100 more county child care
staff. In each county, we will train a child care inspector to
assess the quality of care against family-based standards.

Andrei's story

Andrei was put into care when his parents divorced and his
mother had nowhere to live with her four children. He was
first placed in a small-group home funded by a religious group.
In May 2012 he was abandoned with his personal belongings -
but without explanation - in front of the local child
protection department offices. Andrei was then sent to live
in an old-style institution, even though his mother very much
wanted all her children with her and Andrei was always asking
when he could come home.

Lack of suitable housing and money were the only barriers to
reuniting Andrei's mother with her children. HHC developed a
care plan in collaboration with the local child
protection department. We have helped Andrei's mother find an
apartment and paid the first six months' rent. Together with
the local child protection team we will continue to monitor
the family's progress.

Now that Andrei and his siblings are back together with their
mother, he is flourishing in the care of his reunited family.
His mother has found a job and is managing to provide for
her children. After graduating from school, Andrei plans to go
to vocational college to train for a job in construction and
become financially independent.